Decrescendo
by iftheworldwasonfire
Summary: They came in with bravado and fanfare, with eager faces smiling and adrenaline pumping and hearts hoping. They go out quietly, one by one, and fade into the distance. Timeskipexplanation!fic


_"Show me a hero and I will write you a tragedy."_

~F. Scott Fitzgerald

* * *

Roy is the first to leave, and they all should have expected it, but they didn't.

He left in 2011 to find himself, both figuratively and literally. Because with Roy Harper, it was all about finding answers, solving problems, and his entire life, all three years of it, had been a complete and utter lie, and that was a problem. Roy couldn't pass up a challenge; it was his fatal flaw and he _knew_ it was, but that didn't change anything, and he would still push himself to emerge bloodied, but victorious.

The only problem Roy couldn't figure out was himself, and it kept itching _(no, clawing) _at the back of his mind until he _did _something about it. He needed to go, needed to find the answers to all the _ifs_, and the _ands_, and _buts_, needed to solve all the problems that had been forced upon him, needed to find Speedy and Jim Harper and Match and_ finally_ figure out who he was.

_(they hadn't seen him for five years, and they doubt they ever wwill when he comes back, disoriented and bitter)_

* * *

Artemis watches him leave, and she honestly can't help herself when she thinks about how it's the second time she's seen this happen, seen a troubled person sneak away in the dead of night, and the only difference is that one has bushy black hair and eyes like a nightmare while the other's hair is a bundle of reddish-gold threads that curl across the nape of his neck and cluster at his forehead, falling into his brooding blue eyes.

"I don't understand why you have to go-" Artemis begins, scuffing her foot slightly on the floor, and Roy turns around, eyes flaring up with emotion, and opens his mouth to speak. Artemis gives him a look, and he falls silent, but his eyes continue to burn holes right into her heart, like a pair of blinding supernovas.

"-and I doubt I ever will," Artemis pauses, picking her next words wisely, "but just know that I won't be the one to rat you out."

Roy pauses and looks at her, really takes a look at the girl he used to despise with her sardonic quips and abrasive personality, and his lips twitch in what just might have been a smile.

He stands up suddenly, shoulders rippling in the dim light, and looks at her one last time.

They nod at each other, a mutual understanding shared between them, before the clone darts nimbly out of the window, and for a second is bathed in the warm glow of the street light before his figure is lost among the dark alleys that criss cross delicately across Star City.

Artemis sighs as the taste of respect blooms across her mouth.

* * *

The next to go are Zatanna and Rocket.

They join the League-the Team was offered League memberships, but the original six all declined, because they wanted something a little more _sentimental_, they needed something to hold on to in the insane world that they live in-and are welcomed with open arms, and it's fine to say that the Team doesn't miss them as much as they should have, because it's _true_.

Zatanna and Raquel were always a little too jagged, a little too _rough_ around the edges for the team, like a puzzle piece that just doesn't fit right, no matter what you try.

* * *

So they take the road that most people take, while the others, the six left behind, traipse and battle their way through the other road.

Zatanna and Rocket are hugely impressed by everything, all the fame and the general _bigness_ of it all, but they realize it comes at a price.

Everything is black and white, serious and solemn. And suddenly, they both wish that they had decided to stay kids a little while longer, stay young, and fresh, like a flower that has just bloomed, and _innocent_.

* * *

Robin, oh, the restless Boy Wonder, was the next to fly away, although he always ended up landing right back where he started.

Robin is not supposed to be Batman.

He was _never _supposed to be Batman, and everyone knew it, except for maybe Robin himself.

It was simple: Robin was the light to Batman's perpetual darkness; he kept Batman sane. That was how it was supposed to work.

_(I don't want to be 'the Batman' anymore.)_

Robin was never supposed to be Batman. He was never intended to pull that dark mask with the sharp, utilitarian curves down over his face, obscuring his eyes, never meant to feel the weight of a city on his cape-clad shoulders.

Robin was never supposed to the Batman. And everyone but him knew it.

* * *

When Robin comes back that one day, with blood coating his fingertips and a harsh snarl marring his face, Wally knows something is _wrong_.

"It's nothing," Robin grits out, answering Wally's unspoken question.

"But it's really _not_," Wally says, standing up and laying a hand on Robin's shoulder. The masked boy's fists clench tightly until his knuckles turn white.

"No one asked you, West," Robin sneers, ripping the mask off of his face so hard it leaves tiny, red welts in perfect alignment of where the mask was glued over his angry, blue eyes.

"I don't need your permission," Wally snapped back, hand tightening around Robin's shoulder. "Now you can tell me what the hell your problem is, or I can go straight to Bats. Your choice."

"Bastard," Dick snarls.

"The one and only." Wally smiles that crooked grin that Dick is _so_ used to.

Robin sits down on Wally's bed and leans into his knees, face in his hands, and lets out a huge sigh. When he looks up again Wally is surprised to see angry tears glistening in his eyes and takes in a sharp breath when they begin to fall, sliding down his best friend's cheek and leaving intangible streaks.

"Just tell me," Wally whispers, and sits next to Dick.

"I can't be Batman." And Robin's face screws up in anguish.

"No. You can't," Wally says, and a breath hitches in Dick's throat.

"_Wha-_"

"You can't be Batman," Wally says again. "Because you weren't _ever _supposed to be Batman."

Robin punches him in the stomach. _Hard._ And Wally gasps, the air forced out of his lungs and his vision blurs until Dick is just a mass of fine, black hair and pale skin and blue eyes like a star-spattered midnight.

"_How can you say that?"_ Dick is so _angry_, his eyes are _blazing_.

"Because it's true," Wally wheezes quietly. "And everyone knows."

"..what?" Dick stares in shock, head reeling. "But...I'm supposed to be Batman. Everyone expects me to be Batman."

Wally murmurs quietly, "You don't have to be anything but who _you_ want yourself to be. Be what _you _expect."

Dick looks away as Wally stumbles out of the room.

* * *

Two weeks later Robin transforms into Nightwing, red and yellow morphs into black with blue, and a new hero takes flight.

Wally looks at him.

Dick looks at Wally.

_('I don't regret it.')_

* * *

Artemis is sick of not being able to sever ties. The thin little ties that wind delicately around her body and weave, intertwining, connecting her with other people.

Sometimes they wind a little too tight, and they ensnare her, trapping her, twisted and tangled.

And she tears and rips until her fingers bleed, blood _dripdripdripping _onto the threads and coating them, but she just can't bear to rip them all the way apart and unravel her past. Because that would mean that Artemis would give up. And Artemis Crock does _not_ give up.

She heard Green Arrow has another protege. Blonde and bubbly, Artemis is reminded sickeningly of herself when she first started in the superhero business as soon as she sees Arrowette, Cissie King-Jones, a quiver strapped across her back and bow in hand.

Yes, Artemis Crock is replaceable, but the fact remains that she does not replace anyone.

_(she won't give up on them)_

* * *

'_Artemis...it's me, Ollie. I hope you know that we still love you. You should come over some ti-'_

_Delete._

'_Hi Artemis. How are you doing? It's Dinah. I wish you would come to talk to us, you know ever since Roy left you've been acting a little distant-'_

_Delete._

'_Hello Artemis. This is Megan speaking. I was wondering if you wanted to come to the Cave and bake cookies with me? We haven't baked them together in a while...a couple of years, and I know you've given up on being a hero-'_

_Delete. _

'_Nightwing here. I could really use some help in Bludhaven, if you wanted to get back in the hero business again-'_

_Delete._

'_Hey babe. It's Wally. I'll be a little late tonight, just letting you know. Love you.'_

_Pause._

_Delete._

'_It's Jade-"_

_Delete._

They all leave her in the end.

_(but...maybe she cut the ties a little too quickly)_

_(maybe she's the one that pushed them away)_

* * *

Tula joins the team.

They're all happy. She brings an vibrant energy to the team that they seem to have been lacking since Roy left, since Zatanna and Rocket left, since Artemis left. Since Robin turned to Nightwing and the playful smirk on Dick's face has changed into a serious mask. Since they all realized what was at stake.

Aquagirl is beautiful. With fiery hair and blue eyes and a form-fitting soft yellow scale-covered ensemble that makes her look like she just slithered out of the sea.

Aqualad is ecstatic, he touches her face, touches his hand to hers, wraps an arm around her waist to make sure she's real. To make sure she's not going to be claimed by the sea ever again, to make sure that she's his and he's hers-_because that's the way it should be._

Yes, Tula is beautiful and Aqualad is happy.

_(well, until she dies)_

* * *

There should have been a way.

That's the way that Aqualad sees it, anyways.

Every time he lifts the Black Manta helmet onto his head, feels the cool metal locking into place, he reminds himself of what they could have done. It becomes a mantra.

_M'gann could have used her telepathy to save her._

_Superboy could have used his super strength, could have lifted the burning rafter off of her._

_Rob-Nightwing could have placed explosives onto the beam, could have done something._

_Kid Flash could have carried her out._

They could have saved her.

But they didn't.

_He can never forgive them._

_That's what keeps the nightmares away at night-the nightmares of her screaming, her flesh burning, eyes terrified. That's what allows him to fight them, to fight to the death. That is what allows him to hate them._

_(but as much as he blames them, he blames himself even more)_

_(and there are some things you can't forgive)_

* * *

M'gann is lost.

She's gotten this far into this maze of lies and falsehoods and she can't get out.

_(who is she, really?)_

She's a liar. She's been lying to everyone the entire time. Megan Morse isn't real. She's not green and bubbly and pretty.

M'gann is not a good cook.

M'gann is not a green martian.

M'gann is not dating Connor, she's dating Kon-El.

M'gann's hair isn't as light as Megan's.

M'gann's eyes aren't blue.

_(M'gann isn't Megan)_

And now that she's starting to list of all the things she's not, she realizes that there aren't many things she is.

M'gann starts to be a little more harsh. She takes a little longer getting information out of people, hurts the villains a little more than necessary, is a little more rough, a little more-

_(ruthless)_

M'gann has changed. She's not fun and games, she's not all sugar-sweet and syrupy-sacharine, she's not airheaded and bubbly anymore. She doesn't say "Hello, Megan!" anymore. She doesn't wear cute little flouncy skirts. She doesn't giggle girlishly. She makes her hair shorter whenever she transforms. She wish she could have cut it, could have seen the gingery strands fall to the floor, heard the quick scythe-like noise as the blades sheared off her hair.

Of course, people notice the change. They notice the murderous glint in her eye, the way that her honeyed voice leaks acid tones, the way she never smiles.

_(she makes them forget, of course)_

She tries to convince herself that this is who she is, now.

_(then again, maybe that's fake, too)_

_(maybe she went a little too far, and got lost between what's real and what's not)_

* * *

Superboy doesn't get angry any more.

He never feels the heat pricking behind his eyes, the pain of having his fingernails pierce the skin in his hands, never grinds his teeth, never feels an animalistic roar building in his throat.

He's...calm.

Well, at least he is until M'gann starts being...vicious.

She lets her mind slip, sometimes, and when he's around her he feels a flash of white-hot rage that somehow manages to slip through the cracks in her damaged mind before she quickly suppresses it, and his mind is set into a kind of sleepy lull, like lazy waves lapping at the seashore. He feels warm and calm, like being submerged in a steamy bath. He feels calm.

Sometimes maybe a little too calm. He feels sluggish sometimes. Like time is slowing down for him.

He can feel Megan probing at his mind, can feel her rearranging it and twisting it to her advantage. He doesn't like it.

He doesn't want to be Megan's plaything.

_(he's invincible, and invincible people don't bend to other people's will)_

* * *

He breaks up with Megan.

She doesn't cry, but he apologizes anyway.

As she walks away, she feels another flare of fury, and this time, it doesn't seem accidental.

_(he's not angry; he's scared)_

* * *

Maybe it's when Tula dies. Maybe it was before. Maybe it was later.

But Wally realizes that he can't save everyone when he cradles his uncle's head in his lap, his tears dripping onto Barry's cheeks. He can't save the little girl that pitches violently off the bridge. He can't save the baby in a burning building about to collapse. He can't save the couple screaming as the killer advances. He can't save his uncle as Zoom vibrates his hands _through Flash's chest._

He's supposed to be the second _(first)_ fastest man in the world. For someone who has all the time in the world, he realizes pretty late in his life that every second counts. Every breath, every blink; it all counts down to the moment where your heart just _stops. _

_(he can't save them all; there are too many for him to save)_

* * *

He tries being Flash for awhile. He deludes himself into thinking that maybe with a bigger name, a name that's on the tongue of every citizen of Central City, a name that comes with a harsh breeze and a gentle smile, maybe with a scarlet costume and a charming smile, maybe with the reputation, he can save more people. He can save them.

And then the body count starts ticking up in his head. Of the people he couldn't save, the people who died because he was one second too late, the people who went insane at the villains' hands, the people who were tortured beyond repair.

_Straight golden hair and insightful cornflower blue eyes on a little girl who takes her last, staggering breath right as Wally arrives at the crime scene._

_A teenager, who has thick and shiny, but untidy, jet black hair, olive skin, and bright topaz colored eyes that roll back into his head as they carry him out of the dingy building on a stretcher, trying to stem the flow of blood that pours from the stump that is his right arm. _

_Wavy hair the color of warm, buttered toast, and eyes that must have once been a warm and cozy caramel color, now a pale, vacant brown as she screams and screams and struggles to get out of her straitjacket._

He tries to remember every one of them, but can't, can only remember their frightened eyes, pale faces, screams before they died in a bloody bravado.

_(it all blurs into a crescendo of terror)_

* * *

Wally puts the red cowl up in the Souvenir Room, along with the other trinkets and memories he's gathered.

They come up behind him and he notices, but he doesn't acknowledge them, just tries to lose himself in the cowl's crimson depths.

He feels a hand touch his shoulder as tear blurs his eyes and he turns around to face him. And it's all of them, the League and Zatanna and Rocket and Superboy and M'gann and Artemis and _Robin._ They are all there.

"Are you sure?" Batman's voice is forced and calm.

"I'm sure," Wally answers, hands shaking, voice trembling. "I can't do this. I'm sorry."

_(they all hug him, and for a fleeting second, he convinces himself that it's all okay)_

* * *

Yes, they are heroes.

They came in with bravado and fanfare, with eager faces _smiling_ and adrenaline _pumping_ and hearts _hoping_.

They go out quietly, one by one, and fade into the distance.

Yes, they are heroes.

_(and sometimes it's easier not to be)_

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice, otherwise Wally would be in every episode. 'Nuff said.**

**A/N: I'M BACK, B!TCHES! WITH A VENGANCE! Haha. I was actually on a school trip and preparing for an art gallery, teehee. ****Dedicated to all who patiently waited for _Breaking Speed_ until I finally got off my lazy ass and found time to beta it. ;) Also, I know that the Flash is still very much alive, and I don't care. This is fan fiction, gaiz. LOL.**

**MAH THOUGHTS**

**ON INVASSSSIOOONNNNNNN:**

**~OHMIGOD TIMDRAKE AND NIGHTWING SQUEAL!**

**~Wally somehow became more sexy, if that's even possible. And stop bitching about Artemis' hair, it looks good. You can't expect someone to keep the exact same hairstyle for like, five years. **

**~ROY WHY. OH MY GOD. AND LIAN SHE IS SO CUTE. Hey-did anyone else notice that Roy's apartment is the same one as Jason's from Under the Red Hood?**

**~JIM HARPER CALLS ROY HIS BROTHER? AND SUPERMAN CALLS SUPERBOY HIS BROTHER? I want father/son fluff. Geez. **

**~I'm pretty sure there are more than the couple new heroes, cause there are 10 designations left, if you subtract Bee, Mal Duncan, and Aquagirl. I think Arrowette, Supergirl, Jason Todd, Flamebird, Impulse, etc. will show up soon.**

**~AQUALAD. OH MY FREAKIN GOD. WHY. But he's still cool. Having your lover killed is not cool.**

**~Spitfire is cute, and I think they should get married.**

**~*POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT* I heard Bloodlines was going to be a speedster-centric episode, and I also heard a rumor that Wally lost his speed via chemical reaction. Seems kind of far-fetched, but think about it...he didn't use his super speed ONCE during the episode.**

**~La'gann can go die. Supermartian is cute, but Miss M's gotten a little too insane for me. Seems like someone fell off the deep end...*whistles innocently***

**~BB is mini-Wally. He acts like Wally (souvenirs, anyone?) and after Megan's blood transfusion looked a heck of a lot like him. And same with Billy and Dick.**

**~Blue Beetle and Superboy bromance is cute. :)**

**Review please! OH I'll be doing a sequel to this called "Crescendo" about the new characters soon.**

**~lilmissf**


End file.
